![Hybrid Air Vehicle's Airlander 10 prototype in flight in 2016.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/c979f08/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5184x3456+0+0/resize/880x587!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc7%2F6f%2F29654ebf4bb98e28f64e4f8f6632%2Fas6k5664.jpg)
There's something almost romantic about airships--from zeppelins to dirigibles to little Goodyear Blimps. The image of a giant, floating aircraft feels both nostalgic and futuristic. In the early 20th century, airships were on the leading edge of aviation; today, they mostly live on in the domain of steampunk art and speculative fiction.
But a number of companies are betting they can bring airships out of the history books and into modern real-world applications like cargo transport and military uses.
This hour, we talk with speculative fiction author Ken Liu, as well as a journalist and the leader of a modern hybrid airship company about airships, real and imagined.
GUESTS:
- Ken Liu - Speculative fiction author and futurist, the author of the Dandelion Dynasty, an epic fantasy featuring airships
- Jeanne Marie Laskas - Journalist; she wrote a piece for The New Yorker in 2016 on modern airships
- Nick Allman - Chief Operating Officer of Hybrid Air Vehicles
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Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.